Akuji the Heartless is a pretty obscure action-adventure game made by the same team behind the Legacy of Kain and Gex series. There isn’t much information out there about it, other than the fact that Dead Space creator Glen Schofield worked on it, and that it used an upgraded version of the Gex engine. Recently, I came across some never-before-seen footage from a beta build of the game.
PS: The game was once planned to release on PC too.
Rygar: The Legendary Adventure (or known as Argus no Senshi in Japan) is a fun action-adventure game released exclusively on the PS2. Despite the game being a critical success, that didn’t translate to acceptable sales. A sequel was planned and teased by Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki, but nothing came out of it. It is possible that the game hasn’t gotten past the drawing board. We’ll never know.
Prior to the game’s release, we can observe a few differences in the HUD. Additionally, the prototype builds of the game came installed with a Making of DVD where Satoshi Kanematsu — the game’s producer— speaks a bit about his game. Also, in the September, October 2001 builds, and the E3 trailer of the game, enemies will keep respawning in certain areas infinitely until you clear the level.
In short, here are the differences I noticed:
Different HUD
Different running animation for Rygar
Different SFX
Lack of boss fights (as soon as you enter the arena, you’re welcomed with a GET READY TO ROCK screen)
Enemies keep respawning infinitely
Different blue orb colour for teleporting between levels
Heaven Diskarmor has a different colour and shape
Different Diskarmor icons altogether
Missing the glow from the orbs Rygar uses to attach his Diskarmor to
Austin Powers was an action-adventure game in development by n-Space and was intended to be published by Rockstar Games exclusively for the PS2. Development started around the late days of 1999, and was silently cancelled sometime in 2003. Take-Two officially announced on February 27, 2001, that they were delaying the game to 2002. And since then, nobody has heard anything from the game.
From IGN’s write-up, we get to have a glimpse at what the game was going to be all about:
“Being developed by n-Space, the team responsible for Danger Girl and both third-person Duke Nukem adventures on the PlayStation, the as-yet-unnamed Austin Powers adventure was to feature dancing, photography, and mini-games in addition to a multi-character third-person action core — in theory, you’d be able to play as Powers, Felicity Shagwell, Fat Bastard, and all the rest of the movie’s cast. It’s likely that the game will see some reworking, though, in order to sync better with the theme of the next movie. The delay should also give n-Space a little more breathing room in its crowded development schedule, which includes the first PS2 Duke Nukem game, also to be published by Take-Two.”
Bear in mind, this game had no link to Mojo Rally whatsoever. This was to be a separate game in the Austin Powers franchise.
Alter Echo was a strange, ambitious beast—an action-adventure title that dared to fuse multiple gameplay systems into something boldly experimental. It had style, ideas, and a confident strut all its own. But despite all this, the game didn’t walk away with awards. THQ’s gamble didn’t pay off commercially, and Alter Echo quietly faded into obscurity—at least for a while. Years later, it would resurface as a cult favourite, remembered by those who stumbled onto it as something genuinely ahead of its time.
But before Alter Echo became the shape-shifting, time-bending spectacle it’s now remembered as, it went through some major changes in its earliest form.
Back in its early development days, the game looked—and played—differently. The camera system mirrored that of Devil May Cry, relying on fixed cinematic angles to introduce players to action. Nevin, the game’s protagonist, was also nearly unrecognisable: a different face, a different suit, and different visual effects altogether. It was only after internal feedback from a THQ producer, who pointed out the visibility issues caused by the original camera, that Outrage made a drastic shift. The decision not only overhauled the game’s visual design but also impacted its performance, cutting the framerate from the intended slick 60 frames per second down to 30.
With the new direction in place, Alter Echo moved to a fully controllable 3D camera, and Nevin received his final redesign. His allies, Arana and Stom, still wore the original red/orange suits late into development—until the team finally settled on their now-iconic bluish armour for the retail release.
Apart from the visual differences, in the early E3 trailers shown, the time dilation for Nevin was much slower than the final release. There were different gunshot and slashing effects as well as different icons for the Time Dilation. The HUD colour was different. The running and jumping animations for Nevin were also different. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive gallery of the early changes, and more!
Early Footage of Alter Echo Build:
Later Build:
Concept Sketches
Videos:
Fan-documentary containing insights from Lead Designer Andy Crosby
NH3 began as a two-man project in 2010 but was abruptly brought to an end for unknown reasons. No data is available online, or a way to reach out to the developer for more information. What remains is a YouTube video.
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